Two Rugs Made from Old T-Shirts: Original Ideas
You'd be surprised how many kinds of rugs people make from leftover yarn and fabric scraps! I'll share a couple of interesting ideas that were a real discovery for me, and maybe they'll come in handy for someone else too. These are rugs made from old T-shirts, which pile up in pretty much every family by the end of summer, especially if there are little kids around. Rugs made from old textiles turn out soft, bright, and — importantly — won't cost you a single cent!
What you'll need
1. A piece of sturdy fabric for the base.
2. Textiles. You can use not just T-shirts but any clothes you no longer wear — the main thing is that the fabric shouldn't fray easily.
3. Strong sewing thread. Pay attention to this one, since we're talking about an item that'll see a lot of use.
4. Hot glue.
5. Clothesline (for model #1)
How to make the "flower" rug (photo above)
Cut the unwanted old clothing into strips, 10 by 3 cm.
Secure a length of clothesline with clothespins or clamps so it's pulled nice and tight. Starting from the top, tie "bows" onto the line, pulling them snugly against each other.
Roll up the pieces and glue them onto the base with hot glue. You'll also need to secure each petal by hand with a needle and thread.
Before using this rug, give it a good shake to get rid of any loose threads.
**How to make the rose rug
**
Most often, T-shirt rugs are made by turning old clothes into soft pom-poms. There's a tutorial for that on our site, but here we'll make a rug with little roses instead.
Cut the T-shirts into squares, roughly 15 by 15 cm. The smaller the squares, the smaller the finished flowers will be.
Roll the fabric into a tube, starting from the corner. Coil each tube into a little "roll" and secure it by hand with a needle and thread.
Lay the finished roses out on the base in rows and glue each one down with hot glue. You can also sew them on instead.
To keep this rug from sliding around, just add a few drops of hot glue to the wrong side and let it dry.
Here's another decent rug idea — use strips from old clothing (about 8-10 cm wide). Fold each one in half lengthwise, then stitch it while making pleats at the same time. You'll end up with pieces like these.
Now sew them onto the base in random order. The rug comes out soft and unusual.